The Babysitter(58)

‘Does that worry you?’ Jade probed carefully.

Mark hesitated, as if not sure how much to confide. ‘Frankly,’ he said, after a second, ‘it bloody terrifies me.’

‘Why?’ Jade asked, gently urging him on.

Mark ran his hands up over his face. ‘I don’t… I know she’s ill, but I’m beginning to wonder whether she still…’ He paused, picked up his whisky, put it back down, then got to his feet.

‘She seems to be pulling away from me,’ he said eventually. ‘I’m not sure how I’d handle it if we split.’

What? Her heart flipping violently inside her, Jade stared hard at him.

‘I’ve seen the damage a broken home can wreak,’ he went on, plunging his hands in his pockets and walking to the window, staring out at nothing. ‘I don’t want that for my kids,’ he admitted, his voice tight.

And Jade’s heart settled clunkily back into its moorings.

And he wouldn’t have to, she decided, steeling her resolve. There would be no broken-home scenario. Angel was hers. She loved her. She was her child. She would never see her without her father. He must know that. Poppy, who was now grating seriously on her nerves, she hadn’t made up her mind about yet, but she could tolerate her, at least for a short while, if Mark was really going to be so heartbroken without her.

‘Crap!’ Mark said suddenly, moving away from the window and heading for the door.

Jade started after him, and then, realising Evie was crying, rushed into the hall. ‘I’ll go,’ she said, catching his arm as he mounted the stairs. ‘You’ve had one or two whiskies,’ she pointed out kindly, searching his eyes. Such troubled eyes, it tore at her heart.

Mark nodded and stepped back down, a little unsteadily on his feet, Jade noted. ‘One or two too many,’ he admitted, looking ashamed.

‘I think you probably needed them,’ Jade sympathised. ‘I’ll look in on Melissa as soon as I’ve settled Evie. Why don’t you have a lie down on the sofa? You’re obviously a bit tiddly. It might be an idea not to disturb her tonight.’



* * *



Knowing Melissa would be cooped up in the workshop for some time, Jade finished her tasks in the kitchen the next morning. She’d struggled a bit with the U-bend under the sink, but the lump of clay was now successfully wedged in place.

Having realised she needed to bring things to a head, Jade had lain awake in the night pondering how, and finally come to a conclusion. She had to shatter Mark’s white knight image once and for all, make Melissa believe that he wasn’t the perfect husband she had always thought. But the woman wouldn’t go of her own volition, not without the children, and Jade would never allow her to take Angel. Nor would Mark. He was obviously scared for his fragile demented wife, but his children came first. If Melissa wasn’t going to leave willingly without them, then Jade had to make sure she left unwillingly.

To which end, she had to make sure that Mark started being less concerned for his wife and more concerned for himself. He had to get good and angry, and Melissa needed to see it, to realise how utterly disillusioned with her he was. She had to learn that he was concerned for his children, as any caring father would be, and that having her sectioned might be his only option. Melissa would react, of course – irrationally and violently, hopefully. Yes, the more she pondered, the more she liked the idea. Melissa would go, and soon, one way or another.

And Jade would step seamlessly into her shoes.

We’ll all be together soon, sweetheart. She mentally addressed her precious Angel. Just you, me and Daddy. Won’t that be lovely?

But what about Poppy? She was already a needy child, and she would only get worse with her mother gone. Jade knitted her brow. She hadn’t considered that until now. She would have to get rid of her. There was no other option. But… Mark doted on her. He would be inconsolable.

Yes, but then he would need an awful lot of comforting, wouldn’t he? Jade’s mouth curved into a smile at the prospect of that. And if she got pregnant soon, which she would, after sex, sex and more sex, Mark would soon have something else to occupy his mind.

Checking the wall clock – she needed to be off soon if she was going to enlist Dylan’s help in getting rid of Daisy – Jade made the tea, and then reached up to the cupboard to extract Melissa’s tablets, popping one in the cup and one on the tray, which Melissa would dutifully swallow.

She’d take her a biscuit, too. There wasn’t a lot of point in the woman watching her figure, after all, when Mark was clearly appreciating the view elsewhere.

Now, what had she forgotten? Ah, yes. The vodka, Melissa’s tipple of choice – the perfect drink for an alcoholic trying to hide the smell of booze on their breath. Humming happily, Jade went to the hall to extract the half-litre bottle from her handbag, one of several she’d purchased, and then, removing the top, she headed to the downstairs toilet to tip a good measure down the sink. Going back to the kitchen, she placed what now appeared a half-drunk bottle in the under-sink cupboard, far enough back to be hidden. Until one emptied the cupboard, that was, which Mark would have to do in order to unblock the pipe and avert a disaster.





Thirty-Eight





MELISSA





‘It’s open,’ Mel called, hearing a tap on the workshop door, and then, realising it could only be Jade, who’d no doubt come bearing tea and biscuits, she wiped the clay from her hands and walked over to open it.